Are you using the black tape to repair holes in the monokote? You can use monokote to repair holes in monokote.

You must have been working off of Scripps Poway Parkway in Poway. I have a feeling I know who you were seeing flying hand launch gliders at lunch.

The world is just too small. Yes I worked on the south side of that road facing the open fields and that valley to the south. (run parallel to Kirkham Way). And yes I was using black tape to repair holes, but only as a field fix. I have since replaced it with monokote patches. And fyi, (as you if veterans didn't know this) monokote is crazy expensive.Crack Prices.

Just to keep the ball rolling, I need some advice on my elevator/rudder hinge system. Originally I had followed the gentle lady's manual and made the hinge out of a fancy monokote fold. It worked 2 days before my rudder was flopping around and binding against the tail. Then I fell back on my trust black tape, which is great unless you are in Michigan and flying in 40 degree temps. Then the tape gets way too stiff and looses its stickicity (yea I just used stickicity in a sentence). There has got to be a better system right?
I bought some flat hinges from a hardware store but i knew from the get go they wouldn't work due to the pivot point needing to bein the center of the control surface, not off to one side. Thoughts?

Sparky Paul: What do you mean "even though it used RPN". It's BECAUSE it used RPN. Still using a 42C at work. Wish I had another one.

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RPN threw me for a loop for awhile, but now it makes a lot more sense.
I got pretty good at programming some fancy on the 41.
Used the HPIL system.. wild seeing the display on a computer monitor.
The batteries have long since gone for the calculator, printer and tape drive.
I have the HP71 also. That was quite handy doing computations for flight test before we got desktop computers.

An alternate hinge is to bevel the control surface at one side, not the center. The hinge line is then at one surface or the other. The hinge material of choice is then good ol' scotch tape, and I use the scotch tape on the purple holder, which is designed for wrapping Christmas packages. Shiny works fine, so does the misty stuff.

Put the hinge line opposite the control horn.

I used to use monocote hinges made this way: my wife would sew two strips together, back-to-back. Cut that to length (and keep the thread from unraveling with a drop of CA), then stick one side to the rudder, the other to the vertical tail, with the stitches along the hinge line. Absolutely friction free, pretty strong, too. It does require the hinge line be centered.

For hinges I use 3M #190 tape available at Ace hardware, available in a variety of colors, as well as clear, in .75" and 1.5" width. Silicone hinges (google) are pretty cool, though I'm not sure it works on Monokote. Goop hinges are tough as nails.

For -0 temps I move. Seriously.

Try Ultrakote- it doesn't puncture as easily as Monokote. Clear packing tape is a cheap and easy repair in the field. For a slightly lower price Towerkote (from Tower Hobbies) is cheaper, and it seems to hold up well.

Hinges:
The Figure 8 made from sturdy thread is easy as a fix when rehinging is needed.
Scotch tape works for full length hinges, and Monokote on both sides of the surface is easy when doing it the first time.
Johnson & Johnson "Blend-derm" bandage works well. DuBro sells it at the LHS.
For a full-length double-sided Monokote hinge...

Images

For the Monokote hinge, here's a little tip: this applies to the middle picture, when the control surface is being hinged on the bevel side. Put the control surface flat on the fixed portion, but with a spacer, such as thin cardboard (raisin box, something like that). The last time I did this (just last Tuesday), I used a machinist's 6-inch metal ruler. When complete, you can often see a thin line of light through the finished hinge itself.

I must say, the amount of knowledge and respect that has shown through on this thread is borderline illegal in some countries. Its wonderful!

The nose was covered with orange at one point, however frequent impromptu landings rid the nose of any covering.

In fact, that poses another problem. How the heck do you guys get your covering to stick? I have the plane all messed up looking now with black electrical tape all over it, lol. I am using coverlite (monokote). I figure after I get this really steep learning curve done with, I'll buy some new Ultrakote and spruce it up sumpthin fierce.

back in the day when I was flying in Cali - we used scotch tape (plain ol' translucent scotch tape with the GREEN packaging) to repair the unavoidable nicks and holes in monokote covering in the field you get when you land in a bush. easy to remove - leaves no residue. and is LIGHTER then electrical tape
permanent repairs can be made at home using a medium hot covering iron and cutting out a patch of extra covering material that overlaps the damaged area by 1/4 inch or so all around and tacking it down at the edges with the tip of the iron, then smoothing down with the shoe of the iron.

re: GL on a slope

Question: In slope flying, is it necessary to have 10-15mph winds? If so then my problem may just be not enough wind.

-Dan

The GL has a lot of lift and a fairly low airspeed.

If the wind is coming straight up the hill, I'd be looking for more like 8-10mph, maybe even 5-10. Assuming you can hike down the hill to get the plane, I'd go low rather than high for your first time.

It should fly fine in 15, the problem is putting it back on the ground safely.

If you have a friend with more experience, try to get them to go with you and perhaps handle the landing if you feel uncomfortable.

I've damaged more planes slope flying than anything else, but part of that is due to the conditions where I usually fly: barbwire fence 15 feet behind the landing area, and a row of trees 50 feet beyond the fence.

If the wind is coming straight up the hill, and you're on the top of the hill, you need to crab in across the ridgeline while descending in order to land. Get too far upwind, and she pops up too high to land. Get too far downwind, and you can get caught in the rotor on the backside of the hill.

I like to take a bunch of lead weights with me when sloping. I add about 20oz to my ezglider when I fly it on the slope in any decent wind (like 10mph up the slope).

If the wind is not perpendicular to the hill, go downwind parallel to the ridge, then turn into the hill (above and into the hill...) and land into the wind.

The first time you fly it on a slope, get a bunch of stick time before you try to land - like 30 minutes or more unless you start getting tired. Turn away from the hill in figure 8s.

When you do land, shoot a few passes first if possible. Be ready to land any one of them, but if possible, come in too high and get a feel for where you need to be when you make the turn onto final.

Often it's better to set down a little hard than to try to "save" a landing, get completely out of shape, and really crash.

Today my high-start arrived. I grabbed my trusty brother and headed to the field for some launches. The first problem I ran into was the cut soybean field. The stiff stalks on the ground kept grabbing onto the line and I was unable to get consistent launches due to the line catching. We figured to avoid this my brother would just have to hold the line up as I put tension on it. Its worked.

After getting it launched, I immediately ran into problems with the plane pitching up and down violently. Every time the plane got some lift, the front would shoot straight up, stall, then shoot straight down at break-neck speeds. Tomorrow I will be adding ballasts to the nose to find out if the problem gets worse or better. I'm expecting the plane to handle better with more nose weight.

The field itself has some impressive thermals today that I was unable to capitalize on (see prior paragraph with pitch problem). A 'dust devil' swooped by as I was prepping the plane and was sucking leaves hundreds of feet up into the air.

It is very late here, but I was hoping to get some responses before I venture out tomorrow. I'll post the video in the morning, it'll take about an hr to upload and I want to get some rest.